Unlikely mayoral finalist Perez congratulated by Jackson

On Wednesday Trenton Mayoral candidates Eric Jackson, left and Paul Perez, right; gather at Patís Diner restaurant after making the run-off election for Trenton mayor. On Tuesday June 10, voters will go one more time to the polls and select the next mayor of the city of Trenton. Trentonian Photo/CARLOS AVILA.

Sitting in the back of the world famous diner, Perez’s family ate breakfast as their patriarch answered questions.

Jackson came in after Perez to say hello to voters and congratulate Perez on his second place finish.

Upon meeting, both politicians embraced and exchanged smiles and laughs as if they were longtime friends.

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Perez introduced his family to Jackson and Jackson whispered something to Perez that made both of them laugh. Anyone who didn’t know that the two men were about to endure a grueling campaign against each other would have thought that they were old college buddies.

Perez, who surprised many with his strong second place finish, seemed energized like a recently discovered athlete eager to make his mark. He spoke about basic every day services that he wants to improve for all Trentonians.

“Look at the streets, the pot holes, look at the bad lighting, look at the trash; and there is something terrible when a 9 year-old gets caught in the cross-fire — and you mean we don’t shut the city down,” Perez said passionately.

Perez vowed to be a good stewart of tax payers’ money and look to the governor for more help.

“Our revenue from the city and the school district is almost half a billion dollars, what are we doing with that money? If we can show that we are responsible with our money then we can do business with anybody. The governor will not hold back any money from us because we will be able to show how we are spending and why we need the money. It’s called justification and impact,” said the military veteran.

Jackson seemed confident, a stark difference from four years ago when he missed the run-off election by just a few votes. This time around, Jackson seems focused on the issues and says he has a plan to improve Trenton.

“We have to focus on public safety and violent crime here in the city. These are things that we are hearing from neighbors that I speak to across our city. We have to work on violent crime in the city, we have to make sure that we are going to increase the achievement gap and improve our education system. Lastly and equally important, we have to bring back integrity and trust and transparency that works for the people.”

Perez, who was already at Pat’s Diner while Jackson was coming, shared that he knew people would not vote for him because they thought he would not have a chance of winning.

“About 25 to 30 people came to me and said, “You know I did not vote for you, in fact I did not vote at all because I did not think you had a chance.” I said to them that now is when we need you. We need to have the courage to make a difference,” shared Perez.

Both Perez and Jackson expressed their desire to garner the support of the other four candidates who came up short in Tuesday’s election. Neither of those candidates have issues any endorsements.